“I have known Chris for many years and was impressed with him from the outset. He is highly personable, a clear and credible communicator, extremely well networked and very well regarded within the CFO community. He also brings strong sector knowledge across Construction, Property, Facilities Management and Infrastructure. Over the years, Chris has supported me superbly in my career and has quickly established himself as a trusted advisor. When I stepped into a new CFO role, we embarked on a significant finance transformation and Chris was my go-to contact to support the people element of that change. The service delivered has surpassed our expectations and has resulted in a number of critical appointments at CFO-1 and CFO-2 level, on both an interim and permanent basis – including the creation and successful appointment of a new Group Finance Director role. The pace of delivery, the quality of candidates, and the depth of expertise and advice provided have been second to none. This work has had a tangible impact on the capability of our finance function and our ability to support the wider business. Chris, and the team at Drake Darcy, are a true partner, and we very much look forward to working with them for many years to come.”

“When I explained our plans to Matt, he was able to provide excellent insight into the climate tech and sustainability investment market, and quickly made some very valuable introductions. The specialist team at a leading global financial institution proved to be an excellent fit for our ambitions, and we’re delighted to have welcomed them onto our platform. We believe that together we can achieve strong results for our investors and deliver meaningful outcomes for people and the planet. This represents a significant transaction for our business, and we would like to extend our thanks to Matt and Drake Darcy for their instrumental role in making it happen.”

“Changing jobs is a big life event for anyone, moving an entire team is a huge responsibility. So finding the right partner who can support you is essential. Beyond their great industry network, Matt and team understood and prioritised personal and cultural fit.“

“Having worked with Chris before, I knew he would be able to help when I moved company and needed to build out a strong FP&A/Commercial Finance team.  Yet again Chris excelled in putting forward only the strongest of candidates following a thorough screening.  His understanding of the business and the roles  meant we had a great cohort of candidates to choose from.  I always enjoy working with Chris due to his passion in ensuring that the candidates he places succeed.”

“Drake Darcy has kept in touch with me over a number of years, striking the right balance of relevant discussions. When Matt approached me with this interesting opportunity, I was curious to explore. The process was transparent and quite straightforward, and Matt supported me well throughout, quickly handling any questions that came up. I’ve been in my new role for three weeks and it was definitely the correct move for me.”

“It was our pleasure to partner with Chris and Drake Darcy on our CFO campaign. As one of a small number of listed B-Corp certified businesses, it was critical for us that we found a CFO who was both commercially savvy and understood the importance of purpose throughout our work and culture. Chris and the team ran two searches for us along with psychometrics, provided a diverse shortlist, supported and communicated clearly throughout the process with both candidates and the organisation.”

“I was really impressed with the range and quality of candidates put forward and the slickness and pace of the execution.”

“We were looking for a CFO at the end of 2024, not the best time of the year to be recruiting but after some research, we selected Drake Darcy as our partner in this search. Immediately on engaging with Chris Drake it was obvious he totally understood the brief and had a good understanding of the industry. Chris took time to get to know the key players in the business before going away and very swiftly finding very credible candidates that we were able to meet with before the Christmas break. Our chosen CFO started with us beginning of April and has, as was anticipated, integrated into the business exceptionally well, understanding our objectives and challenges and is already making a great contribution. I would thoroughly recommend Drake Darcy if you are looking for senior players in the construction industry.”

“I applied for a role advertised by Drake Darcy, and from the very beginning, Chris was fully committed to supporting me throughout the process. He was incredibly attentive—preparing me for each interview, offering honest and insightful feedback, and staying in close contact with regular calls and updates. His advice gave me the confidence I needed at every stage. Thanks to Chris’s dedication and expertise, I landed a fantastic role. I genuinely felt that he was just as invested in my success as I was.”

“We instructed Matt on the recommendation of one of the large global search firms who had referred other clients to him successfully. The role was a CFO hire in an underperforming UK subsidiary, with a limited talent pool in the local area. The lead candidate on the shortlist was a highly experienced CFO from a larger business services enterprise, and we were initially hesitant that he could transition to the smaller role on offer. Matt helped us to overcome our concerns and we have been very satisfied with the outcome. I would recommend Matt for similar searches.”

“I was introduced to Matt when I was looking to bring on a new CEO at Infopoint, a company I founded and built from scratch over 15 years which I wanted to develop into a specialist “mobility-as-a-service” business. It was a critical hire, particularly during the pandemic, to inherit an established team and transform and grow the business to the next level over the next few years. Despite being new to the mobility sector, Matt was able to source a very strong shortlist of well-qualified candidates – three of whom made it through our selection ‘panel’ to final stages, and one was appointed. Matt ran a proactive, diligent process and helped us to secure someone with excellent credentials and a proven track record in the industry.”

“Matt has made several key senior executive hires for me at TestCard over the last two years. From our head of Finance (now CFO) to our two Sales Directors, he has consistently shown me shortlists of high calibre candidates within the required timeframe and run an efficient selection process to get them on board. His intuitive understanding of the business and who would be the right fit has been really helpful in securing the right talent in a streamlined way, which has been important at our stage of growth.”

“Matt hired our CFO back in 2019, and since then has really been a major supporter of our business growth as we scaled from under 100 to 500 people globally over three years. He has made senior leadership hires for GeoComply in Sales, Business Development, Marketing, Product, Finance, Legal and HR, as well as a number of technical hires. We have found him to be a great ambassador for the business, presenting our story very effectively to candidates, and has had the bandwidth to operate across multiple teams/functions and geographies. He has an instinctive feel for who represents a good fit for us as we scale rapidly, and always gives candidates a positive experience.”

“Our recent collaboration with Drake Darcy for multiple searches left us thoroughly impressed. Their unique personal approach and clear values are the fundamental principles of their service, making the recruitment process incredibly smooth and efficient. The candidates provided were exceptional, a testament to Drake Darcy’s thorough understanding of our needs. Chris led the process with the utmost professionalism and his commitment to matching the right candidates with the right roles shone through. We highly recommend Drake Darcy to any company looking for a recruitment partner who consistently goes the extra mile.”

“Exceptional candidate management – Chris Drake is highly personable and a pleasure to work with. Through his extensive network of business leaders in the energy sector he rapidly placed me in an Interim Procurement Director assignment. Chris has remained in touch, and I have no doubt he will be able to place me into another role when this one comes to an end.”

“Chris was a great help during my process. He reached out with a genuinely interesting prospect, was not pushy, and asked for and listened to my feedback on it before moving forward. He also shared as much information as he could at each stage and chased up the firm on my behalf on several occasions, which made the process so much easier for me. He was open, honest and patient throughout, which made it a pain free experience. The company were exactly as he described and the eventual offer was on the terms Chris noted at the outset. I’ve worked with several recruiters in my career and without a shadow of a doubt Chris has been the most straightforward and easy to work with.”

“I had been looking for an important Divisional FD for some time but hadn’t found anyone I wanted to pass to second interview. Whilst not mandated on the role I mentioned our requirement to Chris during a general catch up and he sent me one CV. The CV was great and the candidate was perfect for the role. Having shot through the interview process, Chris’ candidate has now been in role for three months and we are delighted with how things turned out. Moral of the story seems to be… if at first you don’t succeed, a quick lunch with Chris can’t hurt!”

“Chris provided a great service to us for the recruitment of several senior level finance roles, both in the UK and in Continental Europe. He took time to get to know our business and culture as well as the requirements for each of the roles. He provided high quality candidates that met the brief saving us a great deal of time in the recruitment process. I really appreciated his transparency, integrity and professionalism and would not hesitate to recommend him.”

“Drake Darcy supported our recruitment for a new Group Financial Controller. We had relocated most of the finance team and therefore, while we supported hybrid working, location was important to us, and we are not in the easiest area to recruit for! The long list I received was diverse and full of potential candidates that either hit the brief or challenged me on what we really wanted. Each candidate had been well researched with pros and cons summarised in a briefing document. Interviewing the short list both myself and the People team were pleasantly surprised at the quality of the candidates and even after narrowing down to two final options, both would have been strong in the role. I am delighted with our new GFC, really demonstrating the strengths that were highlighted in the process. I would certainly endorse Chris and Drake Darcy in their hands-on approach, regular feedback and the communication they ensure all clients receive through the process.”

‘After a long and difficult search to find specialists in the Nordics, Chris delivered an excellent candidate at short notice. Chris is excellent to spar with and has a personal touch, offering impartial advice’

“I first met Chris in mid-2018 and he assisted me in bringing some very good candidates into the function and team I was trying to build. Chris took time to understand my requirements going behind the job description to understand the existing team and company culture. He is personally dedicated and devotes significant time to the client. I would not hesitate in reaching out to Chris in the future as first port of call.”

Chris at Drake Darcy has successfully supported us on several engagements now and has been an excellent partner to us, he has deep knowledge of the Infrastructure Market and worked hard to understand our culture and match talent to it.”